Obituary: Jirdes Winther Baxter

Jirdes Winther Baxter, beloved mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and great-great-grandmother, died Monday, January 5, 2026, at Bartlett Regional Hospital. A lifelong Alaskan and longtime Juneau resident, she was 101.

Jirdes Winther Baxter

Born Feb. 25, 1924, in Nome, Alaska, to parents who had emigrated from Norway, Jirdes became part of Alaska history before her first birthday. During the winter of 1925, she was hospitalized with diphtheria amid a deadly epidemic that swept Nome. An emergency request for antitoxin led to the legendary serum run, in which 20 mushers and about 150 sled dogs carried lifesaving medicine 674 miles through brutal Arctic conditions—an effort that saved many lives.

In 1927, her family moved to Seattle as her mother continued to suffer lingering effects of diphtheria. Two years later, they returned to Alaska and settled in Juneau, where Jirdes would spend most of her life.

Shortly after graduating from Juneau High School, she met and married Fred Baxter in 1943, and together they raised six children. Fred worked for Pan Am Airways; in 1965 when Pan Am ended service to the capital city, the family temporarily left Juneau — living briefly in New York and then for 5 years in New Zealand before returning home to Juneau permanently in 1970. Public service was a central part of their lives: Fred served multiple terms on the Juneau City Council — later the City and Borough of Juneau Assembly — and Jirdes worked for Lt. Gov. Hugh Wade and later the Retirement Division of the state Department of Revenue.

Jirdes was sharp-witted, stubborn, and unapologetically opinionated, with a humor that could catch you off guard and a heart that loved without condition. She treated everyone with kindness and respect, no matter who they were or where they came from. In her later years, she often held court from her favorite chair, as a steady stream of family and friends stopped by to laugh, reminisce, take a cookie from the cookie jar, and keep her company—exactly the way she liked it.

She was preceded in death by her parents John and Ragnhild, her brothers John and Gudmund, and her husband Fred G. Baxter in 2009. She is survived by six children: Fred (Janet), Ron (Pam), Gary (Kathy), Terry (Sue), Sandra Dunn (Art), and Sherill; 12 grandchildren, 19 great-grandchildren, and 6 great-great-grandchildren.

A celebration of life will be held in Juneau at 2 p.m. on May 9, 2026, at The Chapel By The Lake. A reception will follow at the Juneau Yacht Club.